Michel Ancel

There’s something about Rayman that makes it hard for me to like him. Maybe it’s the fact that the character doesn’t have arms or perhaps it’s that big circle on his belly. Despite some critically acclaimed games, the character created by Michel Ancel just doesn’t resonate the way Shigeru Miyamoto’s plumber does. But that’s starting to change with the past two titles by Ubisoft Montpellier.

Rayman Originswas a beautiful revelation, merging old-school platforming with rich visuals that look hand-drawn. The only problem with it is the unforgiving difficulty and the floaty jump mechanics could turn off players who weren’t used to that style. The follow-up, Rayman Legends, has had a more tumultuous road leading up to its Sept. 3 release in North America. The project was originally going to be a Wii U exclusive released after its launch. But according to VentureBeat, the company postponed the game and shifted it to a multiplatform release because of fears over stagnant Wii U sales.

In the long run, the move will ultimately help the game in more ways than one. I had a chance to play Rayman Legends this month and was even more impressed with the old-school side-scrolling platformer. Like its predecessor, the game runs off the UbiArt Framework engine, but the team adds lighting effects to the sprites, giving characters a more dynamic look. It introduces a new character named Murfy that players can control via the touchscreen of the Wii U Gamepad. But game’s core is focused on surreal and unbridled creativity and Rayman Legends oozes this.